Mike is a retired stock broker, and now published author of Gold Rush!. In addition, he is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, personal finance and home decor now writing from San Miguel, Mexico.

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“The California Geological survey added 50 new and previously known faults to its fault activity maps.” That’s not the real news, but buried down toward the bottom of the article is this sentence:

The Mexicali quake has produced thousands of aftershocks, and earthquake scientists are working to figure why it has mysteriously produced many more aftershocks of 4.0 magnitude or greater than the number that normally follow a large quake, officials said.

Just within the last two days the California/Mexico border area has produced one 4.4 quake and a number of 3+ quakes.

Bloomberg reports “Honeybees in the U.S. died at a greater rate from October to April than a year earlier, with more beekeepers attributing the cause to an illness that has devastated hives in recent years, the government said.

“Managed colonies lost to all causes reached 34 percent of all hives, up from 29 percent a year earlier…”

Colony Collapse Disorder, which has killed billions of bees worldwide since 2006, has no effective antidote. Scientists say viruses may be a primary cause and other stressors may be contributors. Companies that use pollinated crops in their products, including General Mills Inc. and Clorox Co., are concerned about bee loss, as are farmers, who rely on the insects to pollinate about $15 billion of U.S. crops, according to a Cornell University study.

Portland Public School Superintendent Carole Smith made a decision this week to close a high school and it was Marshall who lost, not Grant. Benson would be reduced to a Junior/Senior high. The goal is to move students from Marshall to Madison and Franklin, while seeking the same curriculum at all general high schools. If the core curriculum is the same at each high school, there would be no reason for students to transfer from Jefferson or Roosevelt, for example.

Anna Griffin in commentary at the Oregonian said Smith had two solutions with respect to Jefferson:

Close the school as we currently know it, or force more affluent families to go there. (emphasis added)

The first idea would infuriate the predominantly black school’s small but vocal network of supporters. The second would give white parents more reason to abandon PPS.

Remember from my earlier article, 70% of the students from the Jefferson neighborhood chose to transfer to a better school. The district brought the problem on themselves. Rather than fix the schools, they instituted a liberal transfer program and students voted with their feet. Now, the district wants to do what it should have done in the first place, fix the schools. Gone is our freedom to transfer.

What track record of PPS gives parents any hope that their child will receive a good education from Jefferson and Roosevelt. In an editorial The Oregonian opines that the success of this “…plan depends on stable and sufficient state funding. If Oregon schools face more cuts over the next several years, as is possible, Portland may be unable to keep its promises about well-rounded high schools.”

With the state facing major problems with a budget shortfall and an out of control PERS, something has got to give, and I’m afraid it’s the Carole Smith plan. Now, however, you can’t transfer.

The Cal State Fullerton “Daily Titan” reports on a talk given by associate geology professors David Bowman and Phil Armstrong.

Bowman said that while the quake increased the stress on some major faults near Orange County, it actually relaxed the stress on the San Andreas, the only fault in Southern California where a magnitude 7.9 quake can happen.

Amazon 3D 101 is meant to educate users about everything from 3D TVs to projectors, monitors and Blu-ray disc players featuring the technology.

The site features educational videos, buying guides and more. It also features an offer for a 3D starter kit from Samsung, which includes a TV, Blu-ray Disc player, glasses and a copy of the movie “Monsters vs. Aliens.”

A terrible accident happened last night involving a Trimet bus and pedestrians. Two young women were killed and one young man was transported to a local hospital. He was listed in critical condition. Two other pedestrians were also in the hospital with minor injuries.

“The Oregonian” writes, “The bus was westbound on Glisan as it turned left on to southbound Broadway, (Sgt. Greg), Stewart (a Portland police spokesman) said. As the bus turned on to Broadway, it struck a group of westbound pedestrians crossing Broadway.

I wasn’t there, but I suspect the bus driver lost the pedestrians in her blind spot. People in a crosswalk and a bus going in the same direction can get synched-up so that unless you “rock and roll” in your seat, you won’t see them. The mirrors on that side obscure pedestrians. It’s a terrible thing to happen and I feel terrible for the bus driver.

This type of accident can happen to any driver. So please, before you turn left or right, check for pedestrians before you get to the intersection and move in your seat so parts of the crosswalk are not obscured by your mirrors or passengers.

trading

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